1. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to automatic pinsetters for bowling games, and more particularly to the detection of standing pins, sweeping of all pins on the pin deck, and respotting standing pins in a single cycle including the synchronous movement of the sweep rake and pin setting deck.
2. Background Art
Well known and generally accepted as a standard for operation of bowling alley pin setting equipment is the detecting of standing pins after a ball has been rolled, the lifting of such standing pins, sweeping of fallen pins or deadwood lying on the pin deck or lane into the pit area, and subsequent replacement or respotting of the lifted standing pins to their earlier positions. Automatic bowling pin setting of ten pins in a triangular pattern is typical. When the pins remain upright after a first ball has been rolled, as described, they are picked up vertically to a position above the pin deck area of the lane. The pins that have been knocked down are removed through a sweeping action of a rake which is moved horizontally along the lane surface toward the pit area where they are routed for delivery to a pin elevator assembly. Once the pin deck area is cleared of the deadwood, the earlier standing pins that have been lifted are repositioned at their original standing locations so that a second ball can be rolled in an attempt to knock down the standing pins.
In order to place ten pins onto the pin deck prior to the rolling of the first ball in a bowling frame, the pin setting deck, also referred to as a setup frame or setup deck, comprising ten pin bins or baskets each holding a pin, moves down from an elevated position above the pin deck, the pin baskets tilting from a horizontal to a vertical position where each pin is held by a bucket or spotting cell. Once the pins are positioned on the pin deck, the grippers open or the setup frame moves away from the pin deck leaving the standing pins in the preset ten pin triangular pattern. After the first ball is rolled, the first shot at knocking down the standing pins, the setup deck is lowered onto any remaining standing pins. Sensors detect which pins are standing and thus which have been knocked down and disclose such in a display visible to the bowler. With the setup deck lowered onto the standing pins, the grippers typically grab each standing pin by the neck and lift the pins sufficiently above the pin deck to enable a sweep rake to sweep the fallen pins to the end of the pin deck and into a pit area typically having a wide transport carpet or rolling conveyor belt which feed the pins to the pin elevator assembly. When the rake returns to its position in front of the pin deck, the setup deck moves downward toward the pin deck to reposition the pins which were temporarily lifted. The setup deck then moves to its elevated position to be filled again by pins which were delivered by the elevator assembly to a pin distributor assembly.
Such a pin setting apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,804 to Smit wherein an automatic bowling pin setting apparatus for setting pins in a given pattern upon a pin deck comprising a setup frame is adapted to move up and down above the pin deck by means of rack and pinion assemblies. Pin bins are mounted in the typical ten pin bowling pattern for tilting movement between a horizontal pin pick-up position and a vertical pin put-down position. The Smit '804 apparatus further comprises a horizontal conveying assembly for distributing the pins to the pin bins and an elevator assembly for supply distribution conveyors with pins knocked down and removed from the pin deck by a sweep barrier or rake. A pin setup frame motor drives the setup frame movement and a separate sweep barrier motor drives the rake assembly. As is typical in the art, yet another motor drives the pit carpet conveyor assembly.
Once the cleared pins have been delivered to the pit area and ultimately elevated, they are delivered, usually through a chute or other conveying means, to the pin distributor for delivery to the individual pin bins or baskets. Various methods and assemblies have been used for pin distribution to the pin bins within the pin setup deck. One such distributor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,551 to McCarthy et al. for distributing pins to a plurality of pin positions while reducing pin overflow to those positions. The McCarthy '551 patent discloses a pin setter that is adaptable to a variety of bowling styled games and provides for a variety of pin setting combinations. As discussed in McCarthy '551, a number of commercially available distributors and pin setters are available and have been described in various U.S. Pat. Nos. including 3,809,398 to Schmid et al., 4,813,673 to Schmid, and 5,152,525 to Brim et al. All seek to improve the flexibility and dependability, in one way or another, of pin setters that employ the multiple cycles for pin detecting, lifting, sweeping and respotting well known in the art. Further, as described, automatic pin setting equipment typically employed in the art comprises three motors, one for the operation of the setup deck or frame, a second for the rake or sweep barrier, and yet a third for the pit transport carpet. More motors mean more maintenance, more repair, more down time, more energy expended in both electric power and man power, and as a result added costs for the bowing alley owner. The present invention seeks to improve on this costly situation while providing a novel apparatus and method for setting bowling pins.